This application relates to methods for vending retail products to consumers, and more specifically to a method for vending and returning recyclable water bottles.
Recently consumers have been purchasing large sized (e.g., 5 gallon, 3 gallon or equivalently sized) water bottles for use in home or other applications in addition to those traditionally used in commercial environments wherein a delivery truck arrives periodically to collect the empty bottles while supplying a fresh supply of filled water bottles. In these applications and since it is not economically feasible for scheduled deliveries from a delivery truck, the consumer is typically purchasing one or two bottles at a time from a store while at the same time returning their empty bottles.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and a method for returning empty water bottles in a quick and efficient manner.